Haiku Friday: Memories Lost, Memories Made

What's Alzheimers like?
amnesia or swiss cheese, holes
in your memory ...

Eyes search for meaning:
I think that I should know you,
but I don't know why

Connections won't come
every day is new, yet not
what day is it now?

What day is it now?
Did I just put these clothes on...
(no, it's been a week.)

My dad has had Alzheimers/dementia for several years now. My brother, God bless him, took him into his home and has cared for him, even though Dad has been ornery and stubborn. (Amazing how some of the personality doesn't go away...)

Currently Dad is in a nursing home for rehab after a stint in hospital, but he is uncooperative with the physical therapies they are trying, so it is coming to a head whether he needs to stay there permanently -- in which case, the home would like to be paid full-rate instead of the medicare post-hospital stipend for dealing with the ornery old man.

His father, Grandpa Wright, developed the same thing and we kept him at home as long as we could, with someone coming in to check on him and cook for him every day. When at last he had to enter a home, he never spoke ... or, I think, smiled ... again.

Ironically, one of the most important goals Dad had for his life was "not to end up like my father." He swore (sometimes literally...) up and down that he would keep his brain active, he'd never retire (the dastardly act to which he accounted Grandpa's mental decline), he was a stronger man by far.

Yet here he is. Not stronger than genetics. I'm just glad he doesn't know.

Well now, isn't that a cheery thing to end on! Sheesh!

How about a more-fun haiku to lift the mood. I'm trying reeeeally hard not to write another snow-theme haiku, but it is snowing again a little bit. Come on, brain, focus......

Oh, it's no use, I can't think of another haiku. I've got waffles on the brain ... we're going to a diner shortly!

But here's a fun snowman who was at the playground next to our house. We didn't build him, but that is DuckyBoy in the pic for size comparison. I had to sneak it so it's his back, sorry. He only wanted his Puffle in the picture, so when he was placing it I snapped this.

Want to play along on Haiku Friday? You know what to do: Write haiku, any theme. Put the post url into Mister Linky here, then please leave a comment after linking.

And be sure to have a great weekend!

Haiku Friday: Big, Fat, Soft, Wet Snow

Here's DuckyBoy's school
this morning as the wet snow
falls in soft clusters ...

Clumps of dizzy flakes
move as one with fluid grace
like teens at the mall.

When I was little, we'd ALWAYS get a tremendous, unexpected, impossible-to-deal-with snowstorm on or around my birthday. Guess what! It's been over 20 years since I left Erie and haven't had to deal, but the February 26 blizzards have found me again!


Want to play along on Haiku Friday? You know what to do: Write haiku, any theme. Put the post url into Mister Linky here, then please leave a comment after linking.

And be sure to have a great weekend!

Haiku for Snow

Finally! A chance to do a seasonal haiku! We get so little interesting weather here in New York...

Cars cuddle under
their fluffy white comforters,
cozy as a nest

Tree branches frosted,
a thick layer of icing
delicious and cold

The desperate tires
strain to grip the smooth glass street
angry at failure

Hubby hurts his back
(he told me to add this one...)
clearing heavy snow.

(FYI: Hubby is OK. His back just hurts a little.)

Want to play along on Haiku Friday? You know what to do: Write haiku, any theme. Put the post url into Mister Linky here, then please leave a comment after linking.

And be sure to have a great weekend!

A Day of Milestones

First, I dropped DB off in front of his school without walking him inside. I waited by the car until he was inside, but had every confidence he knew where to go.

Why? It was flippin' coooold, and icy, and no good or even sort-of-good parking spaces were available. So I gave him the option: Walk 2 blocks with me in the 14 degree cold, or I drop you off right in front of the building, and I'll make sure you get inside but have to stay by the car.

He chose wisely.

Next, at bedtime he had a loose tooth! He's not sure how he feels about it -- first excited, then nervous. But that's totally normal.

(He solemnly told me that I am allowed to come to the gingerbread-house project tomorrow afternoon as long as I: Don't burp or fart, don't tell anyone about his loose tooth, and [said with additional sternness] have everything I need. Ooooo-kay then!

Finally, I completed the sessions of my first telecourse tonight. As the teacher! I loved it so much.

A very good day.

Disappointment. Now! With Reassurance and Helpful Pats on the Back

Three children misbehaved on stage at the school concert this afternoon. Two were in pre-k, and no one expects much of the four-year-olds. One was my first grader.

At least the people around me chuckled when DB acted out. So it's not like I have to hang my head in shame.

And the teachers were all very concerned about me. Which is kind of embarrassing but nice that they care. Even his teacher who never talks came out into the hall and really seemed to be sincerely trying to reassure me that he did, if not well, not soo awful -- and that it was a BIG, stage-fright-inducing crowd.

DB has been grousing at me recently that I "care too much" (about him). Usually he says it when I'm trying to clean his nose or fix something on his person. It's a good thing that he's needing a bit more space between us, and I'll try to give it to him without his always having to ask. But on a grander scale, I don't know HOW to care any less.

On the way home today he asked me if he loved me. (He had to know I was disappointed with the shouting he did at the concert.) I love every chance to remind him that yes, I love him and always will, and nothing he ever does will change that.

We got some cool snow today. DB had a blast helping me brush off the car, and even reminded me, though I don't know how he even knows, that our new brush telescopes out -- a feature that came in handy for brushing 2 inches of wet snow off the roof of the car.

He'll be alright someday. Because I care too much.

Janny's Sense of Snow

Snow flurries this week!
Exciting for us to see
I wish it was more...

From back in childhood
growing up on the Great Lakes,
I have my own view:

If I'm wearing gloves,
And if it's going to be cold,
there ought to be snow.